Apparatus and method for flagging

ABSTRACT

A pre-formed grid or similar apparatus is disclosed for the arrangement and/or storage of flagstones, where the grid may also be used to facilitate installation of the flagstones.

A pre-formed grid or similar apparatus is used to arrange and/or storeflagstones and similar materials, where the grid has shoulders whichassure the reliable placement and retention of flagstones so as tofacilitate installation.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY

The use of various forms of flagstones and similar man-made, syntheticor composite materials is known for walkways, patios, driveways andsimilar applications. However, the time and experience required toinstall flagstone is a detriment to its use—largely because of the laborand expense. For example, in order to assure consistent and reliableplacement of flagging, it is often the case that a skilled stone masonor similar tradesperson is hired for placement of the surface. Moreover,the number and sizes of the various flagstones needs to be determined inadvance based upon both the pattern to be employed as well as the areato be covered, often resulting in having too few or too many of certainflagstones. The disclosed apparatus and method facilitate the rapid andreliable storage and installation of such materials and permitpre-assembly of grids of stones for easy storage, transportation andinstallation of the flagging materials, thereby making the installationsomething that can easily be done on a do-it-yourself basis.

Disclosed in embodiments herein is a flagstone placement apparatus,comprising: an outer border; a plurality of interior shoulders; a bottomsurface having apertures therein; and a plurality of flagstones, whereinsaid outer border and interior shoulders, in combination with the bottomsurface, provide nesting locations to each of said plurality offlagstones for storage and installation thereof.

Further disclosed in embodiments herein is a method for flagging,comprising: providing a flagstone containment grid, said grid includingan outer border, a plurality of interior shoulders, and a bottom surfacehaving apertures therein, wherein said outer border and interiorshoulders, in combination with the bottom surface, provide a pluralityof nesting locations for flagging materials; and placing flagstones ineach of said nesting locations to complete a grid, wherein saidcompleted grid is then used for at least one operation selected from thegroup consisting of: storage, shipment and installation.

Also disclosed herein is a flagstone placement apparatus, comprising: anouter border; a plurality of interior shoulders; and a bottom surfacehaving apertures therein, wherein said outer border and interiorshoulders, in combination with the bottom surface, create a plurality ofnesting locations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1 and 2 are views of an exemplary flagstone placement apparatus inaccordance with one of the embodiments disclosed;

FIG. 3 is an illustration of the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 withflagstones placed in several nesting locations of the flagstoneplacement apparatus;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are views of an alternative flagstone placement apparatusin accordance with one of the embodiments disclosed;

FIGS. 6 and 7 are partial views of an exemplary nesting location with analternative shoulder and border configuration; and

FIG. 8 is an illustration of the installation of a plurality of FIGS. 1and 2 are views of an exemplary flagstone placement apparatus to producea surface in accordance with one of the embodiments disclosed.

The various embodiments described herein are not intended to limit thedisclosure to those embodiments described. On the contrary, the intentis to cover all alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may beincluded within the spirit and scope of the various embodiments andequivalents set forth. For a general understanding, reference is made tothe drawings. In the drawings, like references have been used throughoutto designate identical or similar elements. It is also noted that thedrawings may not have been drawn to scale and that certain regions mayhave been purposely drawn disproportionately so that the features andaspects could be properly depicted.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As used herein the term “flagstones” include naturally occurring rockand stone, as well as man-made, synthetic or composite materials such ascement or concrete-based materials, and combinations thereof. Similarly,the term “flagging” is intended to represent the preparation andplacement of flagstones and similar materials, as defined above.

Referring to FIGS. 1-2, for example, depicted therein is an exemplaryflagstone placement apparatus or grid 110. As will be appreciated, grid110 may come in various shapes or forms, for example, a rectangle or thealternative multi-hex shape represented in FIGS. 4-5. Each grid 110includes an outer border 120, and a plurality of interior shoulders 130.The grid also includes a bottom surface 140 having a plurality ofapertures 144 therein. Also referring to FIG. 3, the grid 110 isdesigned to hold a plurality of flagstones 160 in a regular pattern andreliable manner.

The outer border 120 and interior shoulders 130, in combination with thebottom surface 140, provide nesting locations 180 to each of theplurality of flagstones 160, so that once installed on a generally flatsurface, the flagstones continue to be retained by the grid and do notmove, even when subjected to top-surface loading such as from walking,vehicle traffic and the like. Moreover, the grid 110 is also constructedto permit its use for storage of flagstones, so as to enable easierhandling, transportation, delivery and flagging using smaller flagstonepieces that have regular shapes. Apertures 144, in the grid's bottomsurface 140, not only serve to reduce the weight of the grid itself, butfurther provide for drainage of water and other liquids so that asurface (e.g., driveway, patio, etc.) created using grids populated withflagstones permits liquid to drain through the grid. In one embodiment,each of the nesting locations 180 has at least one of the apertures 140to assure drainage of liquid through the grid.

The apparatus or grid 110 includes an outer border 120 in a regular,repeatable shape for ease of installation of a plurality of gridspopulated with flagstone, thereby enabling rapid construction of aflagstone surface. The height of the outer borders (H) may be determinedbased upon the size of the grid and the flagstones therein. In oneembodiment the height of the outer borders and inner shoulders isapproximately the thickness of the flagstone pieces, or on the order ofabout 0.75-1.5 inches. Also contemplated are borders and shoulders thathave a height less than the flagstone thickness, in order to permit thespace between the flagstones to be filled with a polymeric joint sand orsimilar fill material. The outer border 120 and shoulders 130 have athickness (T) that is on the order of 0.07-0.3 inches, preferably about0.1 inches, although the thickness may be a function of the size andcarrying capacity of the grid as well as the aesthetic desire for theinstalled surface. It is also contemplated that the shoulders and outerborder have different heights and/or thicknesses. In one embodiment, thegrid 110 may be made of a plastic material using and injection mold. Itis also possible that one or more features of the grid (e.g., shoulders130, borders 120, etc.) have a slight draft or taper based upon theforming technique used to manufacture the grid.

Also, referring also to FIGS. 4 and 5, illustrated therein is analternative shape for the grid 110, where the grid is designed for theplacement of hexagonal flagstones. The multi-hex grid shape of FIGS. 4and 5 also includes an outer border 120 as well as interior shoulders130. Thus, the grid or flagstone placement apparatus 110 may have arectangular shape as illustrated in FIGS. 1-3 or an alternative shape asdepicted in FIGS. 4-5.

As illustrated in the partial view of a single nest and flagstone inFIG. 7, the flagstones 160 have a generally planar top 220 and bottom224, which is parallel to the top, and a plurality of sides 228,perpendicular to the bottom. As is depicted by FIGS. 6 and 7, theflagstone 160 is placed within a nest 180, such that the bottom surface140, outer border 120 and/or interior shoulders 130 provide a contactboundary with the sides of the flagstone 160 to retain each flagstone inits respective nest 180 in a position relative to said outer border andother flagstones, and to provide consistent spacing between adjacentflagstones. As will also be appreciated from FIGS. 6 and 7, the outerborders and interior shoulders may be in the form of tabs or partialwall segments, which are suitable for retaining the flagstones within anest. For example, the grid 110 may include a continuous outer border120, whereas the interior shoulders 130 may be formed using one or moretabs that extend upward from the bottom surface 140 of the grid, wherethe tab contacts only a portion of a side of the flagstone. The height,size and location of the tab-like shoulders and/or borders may bedetermined based upon the requirements of the grid from a structural(flexural) perspective, and may be designed in order to provide somerigidity to the grid when populated with flagstones.

As noted previously, the relative heights and thicknesses of theshoulders 130 and borders 120 may vary, although it is contemplated inthe embodiments of FIGS. 1-5 that at least one interior shoulder is thesame height as the outer border. Similarly, as to thickness of theinterior shoulders and exterior borders, the embodiment of FIGS. 2 and 5illustrate that at least one interior shoulder is the same thickness asthat of the outer border. Moreover, the thickness of a shoulder orborder may vary over its height or length in order to accommodate forvarious forming techniques such as a draft for ease of separation from amold.

Having described several embodiments and features of the flagstoneplacement apparatus, attention is now turned to FIG. 8 which illustratesthe use of the disclosed rectangular-shaped grid 110 of FIGS. 1-3 in alarge-area flagging installation. More specifically, the disclosedembodiments also include a method for flagging, including providing aflagstone containment grid 110, where the grid includes an outer border,a plurality of interior shoulders, and a bottom surface having aperturestherein as described above. The method further includes placingflagstones 160 in each of said nesting locations within the grid to forma completed grid 310. Although depicted in the nature of a flagginginstallation in FIG. 8, it will be further appreciated that thecompleted grid may also be used for storage, shipment/transportation andinstallation of flagging.

As illustrated in FIG. 8, for example, a plurality of completed grids310 may be laid or placed on a prepared surface 340 to prepare awalkway, driveway or similar decorative surface. It will be appreciatedthat the alternative grid shape depicted in FIGS. 4 and 5 may besimilarly used due to the repeated and “interlocking” nature of theshape. Moreover, when a grid does not fit within an intended design orlayout area, the grid and associated flagstones may be trimmed or cut,to the appropriate configuration. In such an embodiment, one or morenesting locations may be disrupted by the trimming so as to remove ashoulder or border. In such situations it is contemplated that theflagstone piece within such a nesting location may be adhered to thegrid using an industrial or construction adhesive such as polyurethaneadhesive.

It should be understood that various changes and modifications to theembodiments described herein will be apparent to those skilled in theart. Such changes and modifications can be made without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the present disclosure and without diminishingits intended advantages. It is therefore anticipated that all suchchanges and modifications be covered by the instant application.

1-9. (canceled)
 10. A method for flagging, comprising: providing aflagstone containment grid, said containment grid including a bottomsurface having apertures therein, a continuous outer border adjacent allouter edges of the bottom surface, and a plurality of interiorshoulders, wherein said outer border and interior shoulders, incombination with the bottom surface, create a plurality of nestinglocations for flagstones; preassembling a containment grid by placingflagstones in each of said nesting locations to produce a completed agrid; and then installing the completed grid.
 11. The method accordingto claim 10, further comprising installing a plurality of completedgrids on a prepared surface, wherein at least a portion of a border ofone competed grid abuts a portion of a border of another completed grid.12-16. (canceled)
 17. The method according to claim 10, furtherincluding adhering the flagstones to the grid upon placing theflagstones in each of said nesting locations.
 18. The method accordingto claim 10, further including at least one operation selected from thegroup consisting of: storage of a competed grid, shipment of a completedgrid, transportation of a completed grid; handling a completed grid, anddelivery of a completed grid.
 19. The method according to claim 10,wherein said flagstones have a top, a generally planar bottom and aplurality of sides, perpendicular to said bottom, where said outerborder and interior shoulders provide contact with at least a portion ofsaid sides of each flagstone to retain each flagstone in positionrelative to said outer border and other flagstones, and to provideconsistent spacing between adjacent flagstones.
 20. The method accordingto claim 11, wherein the continuous outer border of each completed gridis a regular shape.
 21. The method according to claim 20, wherein theregular shape is a rectangle.
 22. The method according to claim 10,wherein wherein said flagstones have a top, a generally planar bottomand a plurality of sides, perpendicular to said bottom, where saidcontinuous outer border and interior shoulders provide contact with saidsides of each flagstone to retain each flagstone in position relative tosaid outer border and other flagstones, and to provide consistentspacing between adjacent flagstones.
 23. The method according to claim10, wherein at least one interior shoulder is the same height as thecontinuous outer border.
 24. The method according to claim 10, whereinthe thickness of an outer border varies over its height.
 25. The methodaccording to claim 20, wherein the regular shape is an interlockingshape such that at least two outer border surfaces of each completedgrid are in contact with an adjacent completed grid upon installation.